News from the hosting side!

Time for goodbyes

Last weekend was the End of Stay camp for our students hosted in the Year Program 2017-2018. The whole thing started on Saturday, with a little tradition here in AFS Iceland, where the students, alongside with their host families, met in Heiðmörk to plant a tree together, as a symbol of life, growth and longevity. Shortly after planting their trees and remembering some good moments from the past 10 months, it was time for goodbyes. Tears were shed, but promises of meeting again were also made.

Our 29 students then headed to our office, where they would reflect on the AFS experience and get some preparation on what was coming up next: the shock of coming back home. The night was short, as they decided to make to most out of their last hours together. Everyone at the office and all the volunteers that crossed their paths would like to come together and thank them for this year. We would also like to wish them good luck for the future.

Velkomin(n) aftur!

Host family recruitment

On a happier note, host family recruitment for the students arriving in August is currently going very well. The office has set itself a goal of finding 4 host families per week, if it want to be able to respect the 3-weeks deadline. At the time of writing these lines, 14 students are already placed; 6 in the Capital Area, 6 in the Northern Region, 1 in Búðardalur and 1 in Vestmannaeyjar.

For the coming year, we hope to be able to place students in smaller communities like Höfn, Egilsstaðir and in the Westfjords.

A Hringikvöld will be held at the AFS office on Wednesday, 27th of June, starting at 17:00. We encourage everyone to come and help us finding amazing host families! These evenings are usually very fun and social! We would also like to thank everyone putting efforts in the recruitment campaign, especially the volunteers in Akureyri, who have been extra productive!

If you and your family are interested in hosting, or know someone who might be interested, don’t hesitate to call us +354 552 5450 or send us an email [email protected]

You can also find more information about the students arriving in August HERE
____________________Gabriel Pitre-Traversy, EVS starfsnemi